AROUND THE WORLD

UN powers differ on severity of sanctions

October 12, 2006|By Items compiled from Tribune news services.

IRAN — The five permanent members of the UN Security Council agreed Wednesday to start working on UN sanctions against Iran next week but failed to agree on how harsh the penalties should be, diplomats and officials said.

They told The Associated Press that while the U.S. called for broad sanctions to punish Iran's defiance in pursuing its nuclear program, Russian and Chinese representatives at a top-level Vienna meeting favored less severe measures.

The diplomats and officials demanded anonymity in exchange for discussing the confidential meeting of the five Security Council countries and Germany--the six powers whose repeated attempts to entice Iran to enter talks broke down last week over Tehran's refusal to give up uranium enrichment.